Consequences
by cag45
Summary: A fight between Brian and his advisary results in two of his younger brothers getting hurt, which effects the whole family and the running of the ranch, which infuriates big brother Adam. h/c and angst are plentiful in this tale of Brian coming to terms with his lifestyle. Brian and Adam are major players in this one along with Daniel and Evan and all the rest!
1. Chapter 1

Chapter one

Brian McFadden had awoken a little worse for wear that morning. It was Saturday and he would like nothing more than to roll over and go back to sleep. He had a bad head from his previous night out. He had really tied one on, but being part owner of a working cattle ranch didn't afford him the luxury of a day off. It wasn't a 9 to 5 job, nor was it five days a week. He had six brothers, one older, five younger, as well as a sister in law that all did their share of the work too.

It wasn't like the McFadden boys could afford hired help. Their ranch was struggling, it had been since the death of their parents ten years earlier. He and big brother Adam had been thrust into the position of parenting their five younger siblings as well as trying their best to hold onto their beloved ranch, Circle Bar 7.

One may think that being the second oldest would give Brian some clout, but all it really meant was that he was the number one flunkie. Adam made the decisions, though he did look to his brothers' Brian and Crane for guidance from time to time.

Today would be no different than any other day. Adam had already informed Brian that he had a tall order that he needed to be filled from the feed store in Murphys and he wanted Brian to pick it up. Brian had managed to convince Adam to let Daniel tag along, noting that the feed store would be shorthanded with Travis Meade laid up with a broken leg. Mr. Judd was a stingy man, so when his warehouse manager had fallen off his horse and broke his leg, he decided he wouldn't hire anyone temporarily to replace him. So Brian would have to load the feed himself and rationalized with Adam that he would need help.

He had other motivations for wanting little brother to tag along. He didn't feel like driving. He was hoping to catch a few winks in the passenger seat. Brian spent the previous night in Pony Joe's bar partying with friends. Daniel's band was playing there that night and the place was really packed out. He winced remembering that he left the bar in the company of a good looking woman. This wasn't out of character for him, but this particular woman was spoken for. She had been dating Rodney Parsons, one of Russ Wheeler's ranch hands, for about five months. Everybody in Murphys knew they were a couple, but she had gotten into an argument with him and had gone out to blow off some steam with her girlfriends and she had imbibed a little too much herself.

So, when Brian McFadden had begun flirting with her, she found him hard to resist. They left the bar around one that morning and he had accompanied her back to her place. Brian was feeling a tinge of guilt over it now, but last night, guilt or high morals were no where to be found. He was sure he would live to regret his indescretion, seeing as how everybody knew everybody in town and dozens of folks had seen them togehter...little brother included...so he had no doubt that sooner or later he would have a problem with Rodney. He hoped it would be later rather than sooner.

"Hey Brian, could you drop me off at the fairgrounds? I have bronc riding practice and Adam needs to keep the jeep today." Evan asked, running to catch up with his big brother.

"Sure, whatever. Where's Dan'l? We need to get a move on." Brian yelled back over his shoulder at Evan.

"I'm comin'." Daniel shouted, rushing out of the house, allowing the screen door of the mudroom to slam behind him.

"Ok Adam, we're out!" Daniel shouted towards the barn as Adam waved at the boys.

"Right, no goofing in town, alright? I need that feed as quick as you can get back here with it." Adam instructed.

"Yes _Dad_." Daniel said, grinning as he hopped over the front gate, heading for the truck, where Evan and Brian were already waiting.

"Don't call me Dad!" Adam grumbled after Daniel.

"Hey, you're lettin' me drive partner?" Daniel directed his question at Brian who was tossing him the keys.

"Why'd you think I wanted you to come with me in the first place?" Brian retorted, sliding into the passenger seat next to Evan, who was already occupying the middle of the seat.

Daniel started the engine of their old International pick up and tore off down the dirt driveway.

"Man, you should've seen big brother last night Evan!" Daniel said with a laugh.

"Hey, you watch yourself. I don't need you talkin' my business Dan'l." Brian groaned, raising his hand up from the backrest of the seat, slapping Daniel on the back of the head.

"Hey, watch it!" Daniel warned playfully. "It's not like it's Adam. 'Sides, you're Evan's hero. He wants to grow up to be just like you! Don't ya Evan?" Daniel said laughing.

"Yep! That's my goal in life." Evan said, chuckling out loud himself.

Brian couldn't help but smile and said, "I already told ya you're too ugly!"

All three brothers laughed and then Evan said. "Hey, I'm an hour early, so how 'bout I ride into town with you guys so I can help load the feed? Then you can drop me off at the fairgrounds on the way back."

"Suits me. The more help we got, the less work we gotta do ourselves." Daniel said.

They pulled up to the feed store and Daniel and Evan hopped out immediately. Brian stayed put. "Hey Dan'l. Go give Judd the order and sign the ticket, would ya? I'm gonna wait here til you guys get back and we'll pull around back to load up." Brian said.

"Yeah I see how it is. When Crane can't pay the bill at the end of the month, they'll come lookin' for ol' Daniel rather than Brian!" Daniel said, with mock distaste.

"Just go take care of it!" Brian snapped.

Just as the two younger McFadden's entered the feed store, one of Russ Wheeler's trucks pulled up in the parking lot next to their truck. Brian observed that Rodney Parson's was driving and three more of Wheeler's ranch hands were with him in the extended cap pickup.

Oh boy. Brian thought. _Looks like it's reckoning time!_ He hunched down in his seat a little more, hoping to go unnoticed. Not that Brian McFadden had ever backed down from a fight. He liked to fight, in fact. But he wasn't feeling up to it just now, not to mention he didn't like four to one odds.

"McFadden! I wanna talk to you. Who do you think you are running 'round town with _my girl!_" Rodney spat, as he leaped out of the truck and started toward Brian.

"Sorry Rodney, I didn't see your label on the girl anywhere." Brian retorted._ Smooth move Brian, be a smart ass why don't ya?_ He thought to himself.

Rodney was a big guy. He stood about six foot two and Brian figured he weighed about two hundred tweny pounds...give or take ten. Of course he would have with him the three ranch hands that worked for Wheeler that was as big as or bigger than him. David Simms stood as tall as Rodney and was likely only about ten pounds lighter. Jerry Watkins was bigger than them both. Six foot three inches and likely two hundred forty pounds, while Silas Marks was a little shorter, maybe six foot but he was two hundred pounds of nothing but lean muscle. Brian had actually played football with him in school and he was a bull, playing on both offensive and defensive line. _This could get ugly_. Brian thought to himself.

"You got a lotta nerve gettin' smart with me. I'm here to kick your ass!" Rodney yelled, seething. The guy was storming over to the truck occupied by Brian.

Brian cursed under his breath and started to haul himself out of the old International. His head was throbbing and he knew he was gonna get his ass kicked. Now, Brian wasn't sure how many of Wheelers hands it would actually take to kick his ass, but he knew how many they were gonna use!

As Brian climbed out of the truck Rodney grabbed the door and yanked it, effectively flinging Brian out and onto the ground. He immediately began to kick Brian in the ribs while Brian was doing all he could to get off the ground to swing on the big goon.

Daniel was waiting for Mr. Judd to tally up the bill so he could sign for their feed order when out of his peripheral vision he could see a commotion through the glass door of the feed store. It was Brian and Rodney facing off in the parking lot. But they weren't alone. There were several of Wheeler's boys standing around them in a semi-circle. _Shit. I know what this is about!_ Daniel thought to himself.

"Evan! Brian needs help, now!" Daniel yelled, pointing towards the parking lot as he rushed for the door. Evan was in the first aisle of the feed store eyeing some supplies and was actually closer to the door than Daniel. He saw Daniel running toward's it, so he started for it at the same time, in effect beating his older brother to the parking lot.

Evan took in the sight that Daniel had just noticed and... being Evan, he immediately jumped in the middle of things just as Silas Marks grabbed a staggering Brian, who had just taken an effective upper cut from Rodney that had sent him back to the ground. Silas was about to take a swing at Brian. Evan ran up behind Silas and grabbed the much bigger man's arm and yanked him away from Brian. Evan swung and caught Silas under his left eye, sending him to the ground with a hard thud.

Daniel was right on Evan's heels, but he hesitated a few seconds to take in the situation. He wasn't quite as quick to fight as Brian and Evan and while he knew he was going to jump in it, he opted to first work out some sort of strategy.

Daniel and Evan each stood about five foot nine and that was with their boots on and each teen weighed about one hundred sixty pounds and that was if they were soaking wet. Daniel realized quickly that with Evan involving himself in the fight that Jerry and David were about to jump in too. He saw Jerry make a move towards Evan and quickly made his decision. Daniel jumped up into the bed of their truck and then launched himself off the passenger side onto Jerry Watkins, bringing him to ground.

Daniel began to work the big man over with everything he had in him. His older brothers had passed on the addage from their father, it's not the size of the dog in the fight, it's the size of fight in the dog. Daniel was hoping that he and Evan's youth would make up for what they lacked in size.

The fight continued, with Brian having to not only fend off Rodney, but David now as well. Brian was getting worked over pretty good, but he was aware that at least at the moment, Evan had been shoved against the side of Wheeler's pick up and was being worked over by Silas. He couldn't see Daniel but he could hear him and knew he was in the fight too, which meant he was fighting off Jerry Watkins, the man everyone around those parts called "The Mountain." Brian tried to fight off David and Rodney so that he could at least get to Evan, but they were both swinging on him and effectively delivering blows to both his face and torso.

Daniel managed to get two good punches to Jerry's face and a solid lick to his ribs, but the guy was barely fazed and began to swing away, hitting Daniel twice in the face before landing two solid punches in his stomach, causing the younger man to fall to the ground. He then kicked the boy hard in the ribs with the pointed toe of his cowboy boot before picking him up and hurling him through the air, Daniel landing with a thud against the McFadden's International. Brian was still holding his own pretty well, considering it was two on one. He was effectively defending himself against his attackers, despite the odds, but he was concerned about his little brothers, but he was unable to fight himself free to give either of them a hand.

Mr. Judd had seen the boys take off to the parking lot and with one quick glance at the fight, he was on the phone to the sheriff. The sheriff's office was only a couple of blocks down the street and the old man heard the sirens within a minute of making the call. He ran outside and began yelling at the men who were fighting to stop and that the sheriff was on the way.

David backed off, not wanting to be caught in an unfair fight, but the other six men continued fighting. The sheriff and two other deputies responded to the call and immediately jumped in and broke up the fight.

Sheriff Sykes had broken up Brian and Rodney. Murphys being such a small town, he had already heard the rumors and immediately knew what the fight was about and likely who had started it.

"Alright boys, that's enough. Stop or I'm gonna arrest every one of ya!" Sykes yelled.

One deputy had pulled a flailing Evan off of Silas while the second had hauled Jerry off of Daniel.

"What's this all about?" The sheriff asked, even though he knew the answer.

None of the men were talking. They all looked pretty worse for wear, the sheriff observed and it looked as though most of the fight was gone out of all of them.

"You two, come with me." Sykes said, motioning to Brian and Silas.

"Do you realize how stupid this is? Fighting over a woman in the middle of town? I ought to put you both under my jail!" Sykes ordered both of them to lay over the hood of his patrol car and ordered one of his deputies to handcuff them.

Then, the other deputy called out to the sheriff. "Hey, I think a couple of them are hurt. We may need the paramedics."

Ed Sykes walked over to inspect the rest of the carnage. He might have known. Two of Brian's younger brothers had gotten worked over pretty good by Russ Wheelers ranch hands. He figured they had jumped in to defend their big brother.

"Hey, you guys ok?" He knelt down first to check Evan over. Evan was rolling around in the dirt, trying to get up, but was struggling.

"Take it easy Evan. Where are you hurt? the Sheriff asked.

"I'm alright. Just took some shots to my ribs." Evan replied.

The sheriff inspected the boy. Both eyes were swelling, one in fact was already swelling shut, while he was clutching his ribs.

"You think you need an ambulance boy? the Sheriff questioned.

"Nah, I'll be alright." Evan replied.

He then walked over to check on Daniel, who was laying on the ground in front of the McFadden's truck. He was bleeding from his mouth, both sets of knuckles busted and bleeding and he had a nasty cut under his left eye. He looked like he was having trouble getting his breath.

"Daniel? How bad you hurt?" Sheriff Sykes asked, glancing up towards "The Mountain" giving him a quick look of disgust. _This guy's got no business beating up on a kid!_ He thought to himself. He bent down to check Daniel over and figured immediately that the kid had some cracked ribs, at the very least.

"Take it easy boy. Slow your breathing. Where does it hurt?" Sheriff Sykes questioned the boy.

"I'm good, just give me a minute." Daniel said, panting. Sykes recognized teenage bravado when he heard it, however.

"Call the ambulance." The sheriff ordered.

"No, no way. I'll be ok. Just give me a minute." Daniel pleaded again, trying to haul himself off the ground.

"Just stay still, son" The sheriff continued. "I need to at least call Adam."

"No please, don't call Adam. You'll scare him to death. It's just a fight Ed." Daniel answered, still sounding out of breath.

"You outta be ashamed of yourself Jerry. Big as you are, picking on a kid his size. You could've killed him!" Sykes said in disgust.

The sheriff decided to call an ambulance, despite their protests. He also instructed one of the deputies to call Adam. He was legal guardian of these boys - at least, Evan still, as Daniel was eighteen now.

Once uncuffed, Brian checked over his little brothers. He was furious all over again when he saw what had been done to them. Those men had no business jumping into a fight between he and Rodney in the first place. On top of that, they were all between Brian's and Adam's age and way bigger than Evan and Daniel. Brian wanted to kill Jerry and Silas for beating up his little brothers..._his boys!_

Mr. Judd didn't press charges, since no damage was done to his property and none of the men, the McFadden's included, requested to press charges on each other, so Ed Sykes released them all after questioning them but explained that he was still investigating the incident and if warranted, arrests could come later.

When the ambulance arrived, the paramedics loaded both Evan and Daniel into it and checked Brian over at the scene. He refused treatment but insisted on riding to the hospital with his brothers. A request that was denied, being that they were transporting two patients in one ambulance, there was no room for another passenger.

Sheriff Sykes offered to take Brian in his cruiser, but Brian declined his offer, saying he'd drive himself there. Truth was Brian was sore at Sykes for calling Adam. He had protested, saying that no one needed to call Adam, as he was present and also responsible for them. Ed Sykes explained to Brian that with Adam being Evan's legal guardian, it was his duty to inform him, in case Adam wanted to press charges.

Adam had told Ed that he would meet them at the hospital and Ed passed that information along to Brian. Brian winced at the thought of having to face Adam, not to mention Hannah, once they reached the hospital. He jumped in the pickup and raced off to the county hospital.

to be continued...


	2. Chapter 2

Chapter two

As Adam steered the jeep into the emergency entrance of County Hospital, he felt sick. He didn't know what to expect as he hauled himself out of the jeep and headed for the double doors. Hannah was right on his heels and he knew how upset and worried she was too.

They had only been married a few months and yet he knew his wife loved his brothers very much. She fussed and worried over them as though they were her own brothers - make that, as though they were her children. It was a quality that had made him love her even more, if that were even possible.

Adam saw Brian standing in the waiting room and quickened his pace. He was anxious to see how his little brothers were and he needed to know how the whole incident had happened. He knew Brian would be able to answer his burning questions.

"Brian, how are they?" Adam asked anxiously.

"I don't know Adam. They haven't told me anything. They've got me filling out these papers," Brian said, looking down at the clipboard in his hands. He shot a look toward Hannah and she knew he wanted her to help him with them.

"Here, Brian. Let me take a look at those." Hannah offered, reaching out to take the clipboard from him.

"Thanks Hannah. I can't concentrate. Nobody's giving me any information. I know that a doctor is with them, but that's all." Brian said.

"What the heck happened, Bri? How did you guys get involved in a fight?" Adam asked.

Brian decided in that moment to go ahead and tell Adam the whole truth. He knew that Ed Sykes would be filling him in on the details anyway, so there was no need in avoiding his big brothers questions.

Brian could see the disgust in Adam's eyes as he told him everything. Details of the fight, as well as the events from the night before.

"Brian, how could you be so stupid? How many times have I told you to grow up? You know better than that!" Adam snarled.

"Honey, let's just save this conversation for later. Right now we need to concentrate on Daniel and Evan, ok?" Hannah said with a pleading look.

"Yeah, ok. We will talk about this later - at home." Adam said looking at Brian.

"Brian, are you ok? Your face is pretty swollen." Hannah said as she put her hands up to Brian's face, gingerly tracing her hand down the left side of his face down to his jaw.

"I'm alright Hannah. Just worried about the boys." Brian said, pulling back from Hannah's touch, as he gave her a sheepish look.

"Yeah, I know. We all are." Hannah replied, looking sympathetically at her brother in law. She dreaded the "talk" that Adam had promised him.

They waited together for another half hour or so when finally a doctor came out of the double doors that led to the treatment rooms.

"McFadden family?" The doctor announced. Adam stepped up to meet the man. "I'm Adam McFadden. I'm Evans' and Daniels' eldest brother. I'm their legal guardian and this is my wife Hannah and our brother Brian." He continued.

"It's nice to meet you Mr. McFadden, I'm Dr. Bradley. I've examined both of your brothers and sent them both for xrays. I just got the results back." Dr. Bradley began, studying the charts in his hand. "Evan has two broken ribs on his left side and one cracked rib on the right. He has a number of deep bruises to his abdomen, but there's no indication of internal injuries. He's pretty lucky. He was beaten pretty badly, I'm afraid. I'm going to wrap his ribs but it will take some time for them to heal. I gather from his comments that he rides horses. I've explained to him that he cannot ride for a while. He needs to give those ribs time to heal."

"Yes, I understand doctor Bradley. I'll see to it that he doesn't." Adam replied.

"Now Daniel. He has two broken bones in his right hand as well as a badly sprained right arm. He also dislocated his ring finger on that hand too. I had to set it. It was pretty painful for him, but he handled it pretty well. I will need to cast his hand. He also had a bad cut under his left eye. I had to put four stitches in to close it. You'll need to follow up with your family doctor to have those removed, or else you can bring him back here and we can take them out." The doctor said, still reviewing Daniel's chart. "I'm afraid he also has a couple of cracked ribs. The bruising would indicate that he was likely kicked by someone wearing a cowboy boot, maybe?" At any rate, he can't ride a horse for a while either."

Adam's mind was spinning. He was already thinking ahead to how these injuries were going to effect the running of the ranch. It would be hard with both boys laid up. Not only could they not ride, but Daniel wouldn't be able to use his dominant hand, which was equally devastating as he was the ranch's resident mechanic. It was going to mean the rest of them would be doubling up on chores and other day to day duties of the ranch. He didn't know how they were going to manage.

"Doctor, are they going to be able to go home today? Hannah asked quietly.

"Yes, ma'am. I should be able to realease them in a couple of hours. I still have to put a cast on Daniel and wrap both boys' ribs. I will give you instructions for their follow up care. If either of them exhibit any problems with their breathing, please bring them back in right away." The doctor cautioned.

"Can we see 'em doc?" Brian broke his silence, finally. He needed in the worst way to set eyes on them himself. Too, he needed to apologize to both boys.

Brian knew this was going to cause Evan to miss the upcoming rodeo and Daniel...well Heaven knows how many gigs he would miss with a broken hand. In the past eight years or better, Brian couldn't remember a day that went by that Daniel wasn't strumming on that guitar. It was an extension of the kid. He knew he was gonna flip out over this. He hoped they could forgive him.

"You can visit with Evan first, while I get Daniel casted. I'll send a nurse to get you when I'm done with that so you can see him too. Give me about fifteen minutes or so and I'll have a nurse come get you and show you to Evan's room." The doctor replied.

"Thanks Dr. Bradley. We appreciate everything you've done." Adam said.

"You are welcome Mr. McFadden. That's what I'm here for. Just do your best to keep your brothers in the slow lane for a while. I'll give you prescriptions for the pain meds. You should go ahead and get them filled today." Dr. Bradley advised. "Oh and the sheriff is back there speaking with the boys right now. He wanted me to tell you that he will be out to speak with you shortly, Mr. McFadden."

"Thank you." Adam replied.

"Brian, why don't you and Hannah head on back home in the Jeep. I'll bring the guys home in the truck." Adam said.

"Adam wait a minute. I need to see the boys first. You can't send me home now!" Brian protested.

"Brian, I really don't feel like arguing with you right now. We are gonna be shorthanded at the ranch. I left Crane and Ford with all the work and I'm sure they'd appreciate your help right now." Adam shot back.

"Brian. Why don't we just go and let Adam take care of the boys. We'll see them back at home in a little while." Hannah said, laying a comforting hand on Brian's shoulder.

Brian knew the tone in Adam's voice. The implied _end of discussion_ was apparent in Adam's statement and he knew better than to argue right now.

"Alright. Do me a favor Adam, tell them I'm sorry about all this, would ya?" Brian pleaded, misery written all over his face.

"Yeah, sure." Adam replied, flatly.

A couple of minutes after Brian and Hannah left, Ed Sykes emerged from the treatment area and approached Adam.

"Hi Ed. Sorry about all of this. How do they look?" Adam asked.

"Oh, they're pretty banged up. I wanted to speak with you about whether or not you want to press charges." Ed began.

"Yeah I wanna press charges on all of 'em." Adam retorted, anger rising in his voice.

"Now wait a minute. It's not that simple." Ed began. "You can press charges on Silas because Evan's a minor. Brian could press charges against Rodney and maybe David too, but he's already refused." Ed explained.

"Well what about Jerry?" Adam asked.

"Adam, Daniel has already admitted that he threw the first punches on Jerry and since Daniel is eighteen, I can't arrest him, unless I arrest Daniel too." Ed replied.

"He was defending Brian. The guy was about to jump on him. What was the boy supposed to do, ask him to dance?" Adam yelled.

"Calm down, son. The truth is, I can arrest Jerry for fighting in public, but if I do that, I have to arrest your brothers too. That's why I didn't make any arrests at the scene, as a favor to you. Now Daniel can file a complaint against Jerry and take it to a judge, but I'm not sure you want to go through the hassle." Ed reasoned.

"Yeah, ok I get it." Adam replied sounding dejected.

"Tell you what. You take the boys home, talk to Brian and try to get him to press charges, then y'all can come in and see me, ok?" Ed said.

"Ok. Thanks Ed. I appreciate it." Adam replied.

A few minutes later, a nurse came and got Adam and took him into the treatment room to see Evan.

The boy was leaning back on a mound of pillows, looking miserable. Adam noted the bruising to his face. One of his eyes was swollen shut, the other swollen nearly as bad and that eye he could see was bloodshot. He had bruises and scratches on his hands and Adam felt as though his heart may break.

"Hey kid. How ya feelin'? Did they give you something for pain?" Adam asked, sitting down on the stool next to the examining table and carding a hand through his little brothers strawberry blond hair.

"Yeah they did. It still hurts like hell though." Evan complained.

"I bet it does." Adam replied.

"Hey, how's Daniel and Brian?" Evan asked, his voice filled with worry.

"I haven't seen Daniel yet, but they're patching him up. Brian's ok. I sent him back to the ranch to help the other guys out." Adam explained.

"Sorry, but we didn't get the feed." Evan said, looking down at his hands.

"I know. I have to get your prescriptions filled in town, so we'll stop by and pick up part of the order - enough to get us through the weekend, then I can pick up the rest of it on Monday." Adam offered.

"Sorry, Adam. I don't know what happened. I didn't even know what we were fighting about til Daniel filled me in while we were in the ambulance." Evan whined.

"It's fine. It's not your fault. You did what any of us would've done." Adam offered.

"I really hope Daniel's ok. He looked pretty bad of." Evan said.

"Yeah, have you looked in a mirror? Look Evan, he's gonna be ok. You'll both be ok." Adam replied, patting Evan on the arm.

"I can't ride in the rodeo next week. I can't even do ranch work." Evan said dejected. Adam knew this was gonna be hard on the boys. Both Evan and Daniel were both very energetic and hard workers. It had never been easy to hold either of them down, not since they were little boys.

Adam kept Evan company for about twenty minutes when the nurse came in and brought him his clothes. Adam helped him get dressed then told him to sit tight while he went to check on Daniel.

He entered another treatment room and found Daniel sitting on the table. Daniel looked up and shot him a sheepish grin, sort of as though he were guilty of mischief. He looked horrible, but Adam was relieved to see that he had retained his sense of humor.

"Hey bud, you look like crap!" Adam said smiling.

"I hope I don't look as bad as I feel." Daniel replied. "Course, they gave me some good drugs! Daniel continued with a little laugh.

"That's funny. I was just thinking I hope you don't feel as bad as you look!" Adam laughed walking over to stand next to the boy, patting him on the shoulder.

"Is Evan ok?" Daniel asked.

"Yeah. You know Evan, he's tough as nails." Adam replied.

"Where's Bri, didn't he come?" Daniel asked, concern creasing his brow.

"Yeah, he said to tell you he's really sorry about all of this. I sent him home to tend to things." Adam explained.

It hurt Adam to see his little brother looking so vulnerable. He was obviously feeling the pain medicine, but the truth was, he looked twice as bad as Evan.

"I knew last night this was gonna cause a lot of trouble." Daniel stated with a sigh.

Adam looked at Daniel in surprise. He wasn't sure what he was hearing.

"You knew about this and you didn't say anything to me?" Adam asked. He hadn't realized that Daniel was aware of the situation between Rodney and Brian.

"Of course I knew. I was there last night, remember? But Adam, I couldn't tattle on him. We ain't little kids. Brian's grown, he can do what he wants." Daniel tried to explain himself.

"Daniel! You should have told me about it. I'd have never sent him into town today and I sure as hell wouldn't have sent you two with him!" Adam said, his voice rising with his anger.

"Adam please. I'm hurtin'. Could you yell at me later?" Daniel begged, while shooting Adam the most pitiful look he could come up with.

It worked. Adam immediately felt bad. He didn't mean to come down on Daniel. He was just so angry about the whole situation, he let his temper get away from him for a moment.

He knew Daniel had to be as miserable as Evan. His arm was in a sling, his hand in a cast, his ribs were wrapped and he had a huge bandage under his eye, where Adam knew there were stitches in his face.

"Look Danny. I'm sorry. This isn't your fault. I'm proud of you for taking up for Brian. You are a good brother. Look, they're working on your discharge papers now. Evan's ready to go. Why don't we get you dressed and get you both home and comfortable." Adam said softly, while cupping Daniel's cheek with his hand. "Sorry I snapped at ya.

"It's ok, Adam. I'm ready to get out of this place." Daniel replied. "I gotta call the guys and let 'em know I won't be playing tonight...Heck, I won't be playing anywhere for awhile. We had just signed on to play three nights a week at The Country Palace in Sonora. It was gonna be for the next two months and it was the highest payin' gig we've ever gotten. I was gonna tell the family all about it tonight. Oh well, that's shot to hell now, I guess." Daniel said, dejected.

"I'm sorry kiddo. I really am." Adam said.

"Oh well. No since dwellin' on it...what's done is done." Daniel replied, reaching with his good arm for his jeans.

Adam felt terrible for him...for Evan too. All this information managed to do was cause Adam's anger towards Brian to grow.

to be continued...


	3. Chapter 3

Chapter 3

Brian and Hannah made it back to the ranch and no surprise to them, they were met with a host of concerned questions from Crane, Ford and Guthrie. After reassuring them all that the boys would be ok and were coming home a little later, Hannah had decided to get busy freshening their beds and getting a good supper together.

Brian, Crane and Ford and even Guthrie got busy getting everybody's chores dealt with, with the exception of feeding up. They would have to wait for the feed to do that. Crane asked Brian a million questions about the fight, but Brian was brooding and in no mood to answer any questions. That left Crane frustrated. Brian could be so incredibly difficult. Crane had always had a lot of trouble communicating with Brian. They rarely saw eye to eye on anything.

"I just can't see what would make Evan and Daniel risk fighting those guys and getting hurt. I mean, Evan has the rodeo next week and Daniel told me this morning that he and the band signed a contract with The Country Palace to play there for the next couple a months...It's good money too. I just don't get it." Crane said.

"Look Crane. They were taking up for me, alright? Is that what you need to hear? It's all my fault. I don't wanna talk about it anymore, let's just get this work done, huh?" Brian snapped.

Crane hated to tell Brian he had already figured the fight was somehow his fault. Truth was, if Brian was involved in a fight, he usually was the cause. In fact, he was usually the instigator. Crane didn't say anymore, he figured he would get the straight of it from either Adam or Daniel.

Adam had decided to go on over and pick up the feed and prescriptions in Murphys prior to Daniel's and Evan's release. He pulled up to the E.R. entrance and with the help of two nurses, settled both boys into the cab of the truck, putting Daniel in the middle next to Adam and Evan on the passenger side.

Neither of them were talking on the drive home. They were pumped up on pain meds, so Adam remained silent and just drove. Daniel actually fell asleep and Adam gently guided the boy's head over to rest on his shoulder. Evan stared out the window.

Adam wasn't sure where Daniel's head was yet, but he knew Evan was furious about the whole situation. He had his heart set on riding in the upcoming rodeo, he was even favored to place high in bronc riding. That was high praise considering that some of the best bronc riders in that region of the country were competing. The whole town was excited to see Evan compete. Adam knew how disappointed this would be for the boy. There was little he or anyone would be able to say to make him feel any better.

"You ok over there?" Adam asked Evan, breaking their silence.

"Sure. Just ready to get home." Evan said flatly.

"You know, all things considered, I guess we should be thankful things aren't a whole lot worse." Adam offered.

"Well you go ahead and be thankful Adam. I'm not in a thankful mood right now." Evan retorted, his voice full of disgust.

Evan was quick tempered; a real hot head, not unlike Brian. He had a broody, sensitive side too though. He didn't show it often, but today he had,which had been very effective in breaking Adam's heart.

When they pulled up to the ranch, the entire McFadden family descended on the truck. Brian stepped up to help Evan, while Crane waited behind him, to help Daniel.

"No thanks, Brian. I don't need your help!" Evan snapped.

Brian backed away, stunned and let Crane help the boy instead. Hannah and Adam helped Daniel slide out of the middle seat and walked him behind Crane and Evan, into the house. Brian walked behind them, his hat in his hand, head bent down low, watching the ground.

Brian knew in that moment that not only Adam but Evan also, was furious with him. Daniel probably was too, he was just out of it right now. He figured both brothers hated him and he couldn't blame them. He had really messed things up. He was beating himself up pretty badly over the whole thing. He also knew that Adam was going to bend over backwards to make him feel even worse; if that were even possible.

Brian studied his little brothers. They looked terrible. They were both having a lot of trouble walking. Brian had cracked his ribs a few times in the past and he knew the pain they were both feeling. He couldn't stand to think about the fact that he had pretty much escaped being injured and yet, _his boys _were suffering.

Fortunately, both Daniel and Evan shared rooms with a healthy brother - Daniel with Crane and Evan with Ford, so at least they would have some help close by at night. Hannah could take care of them during the daytime. It helped Brian's feelings to know that she would be kind and nurturing to them.

Evan had a note to miss school for the following week, but he was already making noise about having to stay out that long. He hated being confined to bed; he hated being confined indoors, period. He longed for the outdoors. He was not going to be easy to deal with, they were all certain of that.

Daniel wasn't keen on being confined either, although that wasn't going to eat at him nearly as much as not being able to play guitar. Hannah expected a lot of moping out of him. Dealing with those two would be bad enough, but what Hannah dreaded the most was dealing with the fallout between Brian and Adam.

It pained Hannah to see those two at odds. They had been each other's rock for so long. She knew that Brian felt like she had stepped in and broken that special bond between them. Adam had reassured her that it wasn't the case, but hearing the stories of the solidarity between the two of them in the past, she could see that things had changed between them. In the last few weeks, especially, their relationship had seemed very strained.

Her husband always reacted to drama with anger. First he would find a target to blame the problem on, then he would lash out at his target with a vengeance. Hannah shuddered thinking about it. She knew that Brian was going to be his latest target.

The house was already full of tension, just from both Adam and Brian being in the same room together. Evan had already demonstrated to the family that he was angry with Brian. He had already tried to follow them into Evan's room and Adam had refused to let him go in. He had told Brian to leave the kid alone. Hannah could see how much it had hurt Brian. She was frustrated with him too, but she still felt sympathy for him. She knew that he would take it all back if he could.

Brian had then gone into Crane's and Daniel's bedroom and looked over Daniel. He was pretty groggy, but Brian was relieved to hear the boy speak to him at least. Brian had helped Crane get Daniel in some sweats and a t shirt and settled into his bed and make him as comfortable as possible. It was breaking Brian's heart everytime the boy grunted or made a pained face as they maneuvered him in the bed. He apologized over and over to Daniel and Daniel had nodded his head and muttered "it's ok Bri." a couple of times. Brian would take anything he could get at this point.

Crane found himself feeling physically ill as he worked to settle Daniel in. The boy was usually so exhuberant, but now here he was, beaten, medicated and almost completely helpless. He couldn't believe those grown men had done this to Daniel and Evan. _They just went in to pick up a feed order. They were minding their own business_._ They are just kids. How dare they beat them up so badly._ He felt rage in his heart and wanted nothing more than to seek out revenge on those jerks. There really wasn't anything he could do to change things, all he could do was to help his little brothers in any way that he could.

Adam had stuck his head in and asked them if Daniel was settled and if he needed anything. Crane had told him that he seemed ok and was already falling asleep again. He also let Adam know that he was going to stay in the room with him so he could listen out for the kid, in case he did need anything.

Adam nodded in agreement. "Thanks Crane. Ford's gonna keep an eye on Evan, too. Brian, I need to talk to you downstairs." Adam stated, very matter of factly.

Crane shot a knowing look at Brian. "Hey, keep your cool, ok? You know he's gonna go off, right?" Crane asked Brian.

"Yeah, I know." Brian shook his head and turned to leave the room and head downstairs. He was ready to hash the whole thing out. Anything was better than this tense silence he was getting from Adam.

Brian stepped into the living room and walked over to face Adam, who was standing with his arms folded in the middle of the room.

"Ok, let's have it." Brian offered.

"Look, you know what you did was wrong and you can see the consequences of it. I don't wanna go over all of that at the moment. What I want is for you to go and press charges on those guys." Adam said, trying to remain calm.

"Adam, no. I can't do that. It was a fight. Truth is, Rodney did the same thing I'd have done. I can't have him arrested!" Brian retorted.

"What? You're telling me no? Brian, they hurt those boys. Daniel and Evan had nothing to do with the situation, now look at them? Those guys didn't have to hurt them like that! Now they need to be punished and I aim to see that they are!" Adam was shouting at this point.

"Look, you want 'em to pay, I'll make 'em pay. I'll go over there and kill 'em myself. But I'm not running to the sheriff, alright?" Brian yelled back.

"Don't you set foot anywhere near those guys. I cannot afford for you to be laid up or in jail. You hear me? We have a ranch to run. I don't know how we're gonna do it as it is, much less if you're out, too!" Adam said through gritted teeth.

"Oh, here we go. Big brother's gonna tell Brian what to do, is that it? I'm a grown man. If I wanna go over to Wheelers and finish this thing, I will!" Brian snapped.

"I'll stop you if I have too." Adam warned. "Now, I just want you to go with me to the sheriff's office. I'm gonna press charges against Silas on Evan's behalf, but you have to file charges on Rodney and David. Jerry's gonna get away with what he did to Daniel, according to the sheriff, but by God, the others aren't!"

"I'm not doing it, Adam." Brian said, his voice cool and calm, but determined.

"Brian, I cannot deal with you! You are a piece of work, ya know that?" Adam yelled, taking his hat off his head and flinging it across the room.

"Adam, I know what I've done. If you want me to feel bad, don't worry, I'm there. I will work eighteen hour days seven days a week on this ranch to keep it going. Just don't ask me to do something that goes against my principles, ok?" Brian said.

"Principles? "Adam began. "Oh, suddenly you have principles? Well, isn't that refreshing. Here I thought you didn't have any..."

"Adam!" Hannah broke in, coming in from the kitchen and putting her hand on Adam's back. "Why don't you two talk about this a little later. You're upsetting everybody and Evan and Daniel need their rest. This isn't gonna help anyone." Hannah said, ever the voice of reason.

"This isn't finished by any means. It's time for you to straighten up Brian. You are starting to be a bad influence on these boys. You have to see that. I'm not going to put up with it" Adam yelled, pointing at Brian then heading up the stairs to again, check on his injured brothers.

to be continued...


	4. Chapter 4

Chapter 4

Daniel woke up to intense pain. It ran from his right hand all the way up his arm. His face was burning and his ribs were throbbing. It took a moment for him to shake off the cobwebs, but the events from earlier today came rushing back. _Shit!_

It wasn't a bad dream. He really _was_ laid up with a broken hand and busted ribs. He realized that the only light in the room came from the dim glow of the lamp on the table between his and his brother's beds. It was dark now. _Oh, God. I haven't called the guys yet. We have a gig tonight and I can't play!_ At that moment, the door opened and Crane walked in.

"Hey, you're awake. How do ya feel?" Crane said, flicking on the light switch as he entered.

"How do you think?" Daniel replied grouchily then added, "I need to get to the phone, I have to call Eddie and the other guys. We're supposed to play at Pony Joe's again tonight."

"Take it easy. I got it covered. I called them right after we put you to bed. You want something to eat? Hannah made stew. I can bring ya some up." Crane offered.

"I'm not hungry, I'm hurtin'." Daniel replied flatly.

"It's time for your pain medicine but you need something on your stomach first. You haven't had a bite to eat since breakfast." Crane replied, reaching over and giving Daniel's leg a light pat.

"What time is it?" Daniel asked. He had lost all track of time. Pain meds always knocked him out. He was still feeling pretty groggy.

"Almost seven. Evan didn't sleep much. I guess they didn't give him as much pain medicine as you. Either that or you're just a lightweight." Crane said laughing.

"Crane would you shut up? I'm not in the mood to be made fun of right now." Daniel growled.

"Ah, there's my brother with the sunny personality that I know and love. I can't tell you what a joy it is to be around you." Crane said as he sat down on his own bed, grinning at his grouchy little brother. Daniel was bar none, the worst patient in the world, but Crane always took it in stride.

"I'm glad you're in such a good mood. How is Evan, anyway?" Daniel replied, suddenly showing genuine concern for his injured little brother.

"About as delightful to be around as you are. He's hurtin' too. But he's pretty pissed about the whole incident." Crane offered.

"Figured as much. Crane, he was really looking forward to competing in that rodeo. This is gonna kill him!" Daniel said.

"I know. But, this too shall pass. There'll be other rodeos, I suppose. What about you? How do you feel about it all? I mean, it's messed up your plans too, hasn't it?" Crane asked.

"Yeah, it's only screwed up my whole life, is all!" Daniel spat out, clearly irritated.

"Evan's pretty pissed at Brian about it. I guess you're pretty ticked with him too." Crane said, trying to find out where Daniel's head was.

"I don't know. I figure Adam will be mad enough for all of us. He's been preaching to Brian a lot lately about his partying. I don't know how I feel really, Crane. I guess I'm sore, but I ain't gonna say nothin' about it to Brian. I mean, if I were gonna say anything, I should have said it last night. Maybe none of it would have happened." Daniel replied.

"Oh, so you're gonna blame yourself instead?" Crane asked, completely floored by Daniel's comment.

"Well, I mean. I was there. I saw where it was going and I knew Brian was drunk. I mean, I was working, but we took breaks. I could've gone over and said something. I wanted to...but...Brian's my big brother. I didn't want to come off as uncool or anything." Daniel said. Crane could see that he was really beating himself up about it.

"Danny, you are wrong on so many levels. Brian screwed up, not you. That's what Adam's been trying to tell him. The truth is, it's something we'd expect out of a boy your age, but you are in bars nearly every night of the week and have we've never had a problem with you. I've never seen you come home drunk. Brian is nearly twenty six years old! Don't you think he should know better by now?" Crane said shaking his head in disbelief.

"I'm not blaming myself. Some guys like to drink, I'm just not one of them. I don't drink when I'm playing because I don't want to act stupid and lose a gig. It's not because I think it's wrong or anything, I just don't have time for it. Brian's different when he drinks...I can see it. I usually look out for him, but this time I didn't...so yeah, maybe I do feel a little guilty. He's my brother. Aren't we supposed to look out for each other?" Daniel asked.

"Wait a minute Daniel. What do you mean you look out for him? You're in there to entertain people and get paid for it. It's not your job to be Brian's keeper. You are not doing him any favors. You're just making things more convenient for him. Just how often do you have to step in and save him from himself anyway?" Crane asked. He didn't like the sound of any of this.

"Forget it Crane. Can you just bring me something to eat so that I can take my medicine? I don't feel like talking about this anymore." Daniel replied, his voice barely above a whisper.

"Daniel, you don't have to protect him from me. Talk to me, ok? You can't take this responsibility on yourself. It's not fair to you and it's not really helping Brian. When you say Brian is different when he drinks. Is it like Stormy? Does he have a problem?" Crane asked. He was getting nervous now.

"No, it's not like Stormy. Brian's not an alcoholic or anything. I dunno what I mean. Something's bugging him. I've tried to talk to him about it. He says he's fine. He kind of made me feel like I'm...well...he makes me feel lame I guess...I don't know. Not cool. Like I should be partying with him instead of asking him to slow down. Lately I feel like I'm the parent and he's the kid. Brian and his friends actually made fun of me the last time I asked him to slow down. It made me feel stupid." Daniel explained, letting out a long sigh.

Crane realized that Daniel must know a lot more about Brian's partying than the rest of the family. The truth was, for the last month or so, Brian had been taking Daniel to all of his gigs, at least the ones that were in a bar. He told Adam he was just gonna stay and look out for the kid, then they could come home together. Sometimes they actually did come home together, other times only Daniel would come home, then some random woman would drop Brian off at daylight, in time for chores.

Crane had also noticed that Daniel had been getting home later than usual. He'd asked him about it and Daniel claimed that the band had been playing longer sets. Crane was beginning to realize that his little brother had been lying to him. He had a bad feeling that he had really been "taking care" of Brian all this time.

"Danny, have you been gettin' in late because you're looking after Brian?" Crane asked as calmly as he could.

"He's just having fun. Crane, please don't make a big deal outta this. I just don't want him and Adam to fight. I've been keeping him under control. It's just...this time, I...I messed up. I should've said something before he left with _her._ He was drunker than usual. I wanted to try and stop him, but I was afraid he would make me look stupid in front of everybody again, so I kept my mouth shut. I should've made him come home with me."

"Danny, you've got this thing backwards. Adam thinks Brian's in that bar watching over you and that's how it should be...You're not supposed to be watching over him. You're there to do your job, not babysit a drunk!" Crane said, his voice hitching.

"He's not a drunk! I know the difference... Somethin's bothering him. He's hurting." Daniel snapped in defense. "Just leave it alone, Crane...please?"

"Hurting about what?" Crane asked.

"I told you I don't know." Daniel replied, agitated. _It was a lie. Daniel had a pretty good idea, as Brian rambled on many a night as Daniel drove them home. He knew what was stuck in Brian's craw, he just didn't know what to say to make it better. Whenever Daniel tried to talk to Brian about it sober, he'd clam up. Deny that anything was bothering him. _"Please just let it go, alright?" Daniel pleaded.

"I'm sorry Daniel, but I can't do that. I've gotta talk to Adam." Crane began.

"No! Please don't say nothin' to Adam, please?" Daniel begged.

"Look, I'm gonna get you something to eat and give you your medicine. I'm not gonna promise you anything. If I don't talk to Adam, I'm gonna talk to Brian myself. I can't leave this alone Daniel, please understand that. Brian needs help and not the kind of help you've been giving him. Understand?" Crane said.

"Yeah." Daniel sighed. He was exhausted. He felt tears stinging his eyes but he fought to hold them back. He had been bearing this burden for awhile and he had desperately wanted to talk to Crane about it, but he knew that if he did Brian would never trust him again. He felt better getting it off his chest though. After what happened today, he realized that he couldn't handle the situation by himself anymore. It was time for his big brothers to step in - whether Brian liked it or not.

Crane noticed the misery on Daniel's face. He stepped over to his bed and laid his hand on the boys' head, gently prodding Daniel to look up at him ."Hey Daniel? Brian should have never made you feel like that. Our Brian - the real Brian, doesn't think you're uncool. That's just the alcohol talking. Whatever's eatin' him, we've just gotta get to the bottom of it. That's the only way to help him. You haven't done anything wrong by talking to me. You're not the only one in this family that loves him. We all do, got it?" Crane asked, smiling down at him.

"Yeah, I got it." Daniel replied, tears now streaming down his face. Crane leaned over and grasped the back of his brother's neck and pulled his forehead into his own. "It's ok kiddo. We'll figure this out."

Adam couldn't settle down to save his life. He knew he needed to rest. With Daniel and Evan out of commission, he would have to be up earlier than usual to get everything done.

He couldn't turn his mind off. Everything was swirling in his head. He was worried about the boys, worried about the ranch and as angry at Brian as he could ever remember being.

Hannah wouldn't let him say the things he wanted to say to his brother. He knew she was right, but Adam had never known any other way to deal with his problems without blowing up. He was struggling in his marriage because he tended to blow up at Hannah and she was not a girl to take that. She would give it right back to him. He had apologized to her more in the last few months than he had ever done in his entire twenty seven years.

Adam was thumbing through a ranching magazine when Brian came down the stairs. He was freshly showered and dressed, the scent of his cologne wafting down the stairs ahead of him. Adam was confused. _What is he doing? I know he's not going out tonight!_

Brian made his way to the small table next to the front door, grabbed the keys to the truck and headed toward the front door, without so much as one word to Adam.

"Where do you think you're going?" Adam asked in surprise.

"Out. It's Saturday night. I have plans." Brian replied as he turned on his heels to face Adam.

"Are you joking? After everything that happened today, you're going out?" Adam asked, indignant.

"Everything's under control here. I checked with Crane and Ford, the boys are all tucked in and doing ok. Don't worry, I'll be home for morning chores." Brian explained in a non chalant tone.

"I don't believe you! A night on the town is the last thing you need to be thinking about. We still haven't finished our talk Brian. There's still the matter of talking to the sheriff." Adam yelled.

"Adam, I already told you. I'm not pressing charges so just drop it. I'll handle things my own way." Brian replied. "I'm out, see you in the morning." Brian continued and turned and walked out the door.

Adam was right on his heels. He reached out and grabbed Brian by the shoulder just before Brian stepped off the porch.

"I'm not done talking yet. Brian, you are not going to go pick another fight with those guys." Adam said.

Brian jerked free of Adam's grasp. "Who said I was gonna pick a fight? I'm not going out to start any trouble tonight. I have a date. We aren't even gonna be in Murphys tonight." Brian retorted. "Lay off me Adam. I'm a grown man. I'll do what I want, when I want."

Adam was livid. He grabbed Brian, spun him around and grabbed him by his collar and said, "Well, Daniel had plans tonight too, you know. But his plans had to change. I bet Evan had plans to go out tonight too, or didn't you think about _them_ when you decided not to change your plans, huh?"

"Take your hands off of me Adam! You gotta know that if I could do last night over, I'd do it differently. You think I don't feel like crap that they're laid up like that? If I could trade places with them, I would. But I can't stop living, can I?" Brian said, his voice was quiet, but full of rage at the same time.

"Look. I don't know what's gotten into you Brian, but this is just wrong. I cannot for the life of me understand what's going on in that hard head of yours right now. You're acting like a kid. A spoiled brat that's used to always getting his way." Adam replied, his voice just as full of rage as Brian's, but he let go of his brother.

"I'll be back for morning chores, Adam." Brian replied calmly. Then he turned and walked away.

Adam stood there on the front porch, watching in disbelief. He had never felt this way before about any of his brothers. He was closer to Brian than any of them, but, at the moment he wanted more than anything to beat the Hell out of him!

Brian knew he should have stayed and talked to Adam. He really did want to, but Adam was not an easy person to talk to when he was mad. The truth of the matter was, Brian didn't have any specific plans tonight. He just had to get away from home. The air was so thick there. He felt as though everyone was blaming him for the way things were. Not that it wasn't his fault, but they all made him feel like he did it on purpose.

He would never purposely hurt any of his brothers, but he didn't feel like he should have to give up his current lifestyle either. Didn't everybody deserve to cut loose and enjoy life sometimes? Adam had a wife to share things with. Crane and Daniel had their music, Evan had his bronc riding and Ford and Guthrie were still carefree kids. Why couldn't Brian do whatever made him happy?

Why did Adam have to be so judgemental? Brian had stood side by side with him, giving up his own teenage lifestyle to raise those boys. He did it without complaint too. It wasn't like anyone ever noticed it or appreciated his sacrifices. The whole damned town did nothing but sing Adam's praises for stepping up and filling the role of parent and guardian. Brian couldn't remember ever hearing those accolades spoken about him.

It was only recently that Brian had even come to realize that he resented this. Lately everytime he heard someone speak highly of Adam, it made him cringe. When they praised him for doing such a fine, upstanding job raising those boys, instead of causing Brian to swell with pride, it made him want to hit something; hit it hard.

Brian felt guilty for his feelings, so he used alcohol to try and escape it. That along with the company of a woman seemed to make those feelings fade, even if it was a temporary fix. He thought of calling on one of his lady friends now, but he had other things on his mind.

Brian felt bad about what he had done the night before. He had no right to go home with Rodney's girl. Rodney had been a friend to him since they were small boys. He knew that he needed to make things right on that front. It would be a start. Maybe he could face trying to make things right at home too, later...right now it was time to face things with Rodney.

to be continued...


	5. Chapter 5

Chapter 5

Adam couldn't get over the fact that Brian had gone out. He'd been gone for quite a while and Adam had tried his hardest to calm down so he could get a little rest. It was no use. He hadn't wanted to unload all of this on Hannah. He had told her that Brian had gone out and he could see that she was as surprised as him, but she hadn't said much about it. He could see that she was uncomfortable with the whole mess. She had shown some marginal support for Brian. Adam didn't quite understand it, but the last thing he wanted was to get into a fight with her.

Instead, he chose to use his energy to tend to his injured brother. He could see that Crane was taking good care of Daniel, so he had decided to look after Evan. Ford had missed some school the week before, so he had some classwork to catch up on. Evan was hurting physically and emotionally. Adam could see he wasn't going to get the boy to open up to him, but he feIt that he could at least be there for him.

Evan was finally getting some rest. He was being much less expressive about his anger towards Brian. Adam had tried to talk to him, but it was obvious that Evan was finished talking about it. He was in pain, both mentally and physically, Adam could tell, so he had decided to back off and leave the kid alone.

Crane had shared with Adam earlier that he didn't feel that Daniel was upset with Brian the way Evan was; at least he wasn't admitting to it. Adam was concerned that Brian's behavior had somehow become acceptable to Daniel. Adam figured it was proof that Brian's lifestyle was a negative influence on the younger boys. Crane had promised to talk with Daniel; make sure he knew that Brian was in the wrong for getting drunk and wrong to have a one night stand with a woman that was in a relationship with someone else...someone Brian had considered a friend for many years.

Adam knew he would have to set Brian straight. He couldn't let this go, not with the younger boys watching. He wanted to make it clear to everyone that this behavior was wrong. Mixed signals were not going to do any of them any good, especially the younger ones.

Adam couldn't help but wonder where things had gone so wrong with he and Brian. Brian had been having Adam's back and vice versa ever since they were little boys - even moreso after their parents died. They came together and raised their little brothers and worked hard to keep the ranch going for ten long years. When did that change? What in the world was going on with Brian these days?

Hannah was worried too. She knew something was bothering Brian. She had no idea what it could be but she needed to find out. She was afraid that Adam was going to get mad at her for trying to mediate between he and Brian. She knew Adam was right, but she couldn't get past her notion that Brian had some reason for his recent behavior. Was it a woman? Who would know? She needed an ally. Someone who could help her get to the bottom of things. The most logical choice was Crane, but he was pretty steamed with Brian right now. Crane was overprotective of the younger boys, especially Daniel. With Daniel being hurt, Crane was taking things personally. He was younger than Brian, but Crane was a mature, settled, level headed young man. He and Brian rarely saw eye to eye on anything.

Hannah thought of talking with Daniel. He seemed to be in Brian's corner. She knew that they were spending a lot of time together. Brian had been taking him to all of his gigs lately and staying to watch. She wasn't sure it was a good idea, though. The boy was hurt and she didn't want to bother him with all of this right now. He probably wouldn't be thinking straight for the next few days anyway, what with the medicine he was taking. Hannah was afraid that if she probed him about the situation, it could backfire and he too, might begin to resnt Brian.

She figured Crane was still her best shot. If nothing else, maybe he could talk to Daniel - see if he knew what was bothering Brian. At least he would know how to question Daniel without getting his dander up. Hannah often marvelled at how close they were. It was one of the first observations she had made about her new brother's in law when she had first come home with Adam after their whirlwind wedding. She had also picked up quickly on how close Adam was to Brian. Even though they didn't always agree with each other, they seemed incredibly close.

"Hey, watcha doin'?" Crane asked Hannah, walking into the kitchen to find her, sitting at the head of the table staring over the edge of her coffee cup.

Hannah, startled out of her thoughts replied "Hey. Oh, I was thinking, I suppose. How's Daniel feeling? Is he ready to eat?" She asked, worry creasing her brow.

"He agreed to eat in order to get more pain medicine." Crane said with a grin, although it didn't seem like a genuine, Hannah thought to herself.

Hannah studied him for a moment. He was upset about something.

"What's wrong Crane? Is Daniel ok?" She finally asked, worriedly.

"Hannah, I don't know. I mean...he's ok, I guess. Just got a lot on his mind." Crane tried to explain.

Hannah rose from her chair to get the plate she'd put in the oven for Daniel. As she handed it to Crane she said, "You can talk to me, you know? Is he upset about his broken hand?"

"Surprisingly, he hasn't said much about it. He's got other things on his mind...Hannah I do need to talk to you. Actually, I should probably talk to you and Adam both. Let me get this up to the invalid and give him his medicine. I'll be back down in a few minutes." He said with a long sigh.

"Ok. I think Adam is in with Evan." Hannah offered.

"Alright. I'll get him when I get Daniel squared away." Crane said. "Then we can all sit down and talk."

"Ok sweetie." Hannah replied.

A half hour later Crane, Hannah and Adam were gathered at the dining room table. Crane told them all about his talk with Daniel. They listened intently, neither of them interrupting him as he reiterated everything that had been said to him.

"So, you think Brian has a drinking problem?" Adam asked worriedly.

"I'm not saying that. Daniel doesn't think so. He just thinks he's upset about something. I don't know what I think, to tell you the truth." Crane replied.

"Adam, I think you're gonna have to talk to him again. A calm rational talk - that is. Without all the yelling. You're gonna have to hold your temper. You too are so close and you know him better than anybody. Surely you can get him to open up." Hannah said.

"I thought I knew him. I don't know what's happened between us. He never used to give me so much attitude. I can't understand him these days. He flies off the handle over every little thing. He's always mad at me and most of the time, I haven't done anything to him." Adam tried to explain.

"Just listen to him. Give him a chance to talk to you, man to man. He's obviously hurtin'. You can't be critical of him right now, it's not gonna get you anywhere with him." Hannah replied.

"I guess...I should go talk to Daniel. I hate that he's been put in the middle. I don't know why he didn't feel he could talk to us about this." Adam said.

"You and Brian are like parents to the younger ones, Adam. If you were just a big brother, it wouldn't be so bad. Imagine being stuck in the middle of an arguement between mom and dad. A kid doesn't want to choose sides. They don't want to cause their parents to fight. Danny just wants to keep the peace between you guys, I think." Crane explained.

"I just hate that he's been carrying all this on his shoulders. It's not fair to him." Adam replied.

"None of this is fair, to any of us." Hannah replied, reaching over to hold Adam's hand.

"I don't see any reason to talk to Daniel tonight, Adam. I think we should just let him rest for now. He's pretty wiped out. I think he felt better after he got it off his chest. If I were you, I'd be concentrating on my talk with Brian." Crane offered.

"I guess you're right. I hope I can get him to talk to me." Adam said with a long sigh.

As Brian droved out to Rodneys' place, he was hoping to himself that Sally wouldn't be there. It would only serve to make things even more uncomfortable. Brian pulled up and then made his way to Rodney's door. The porch light came on and Rodney stepped out.

"Brian. What're you doin' out here?" Rodney said.

"I need to talk to you, Rod." Brian offered.

"Yeah, I think we do need to talk. In fact, I planned on comin' over to your place tomorrow. How's Daniel and Evan?" Rodney asked.

"They're pretty banged up. This kind of messed things up for them. It shouldn't have happened, Rodney." Brian replied.

"I know. The sheriff came by the ranch this afternoon and talked to all of us. Brian, you gotta know, that wasn't planned. We were just pickin' up feed ourselves. I didn't know you'd be there. When I saw you sittin' there, I just saw red. I didn't intend for those guys to get involved in it." Rodney offered.

"Why did they?" Brian asked.

"Aww, they're hotheaded. Russ had just chewed us all out and we were all pretty pissed off at the world." Rodney explained. "I appreciate you not pressing charges. Considering everything, I might have."

"I was wrong. I'm sorry for what I did. I was way out of line. Sally's your girl. I don't know what I was thinkin'." Brian offered.

"You did me a favor, I guess. We ain't been gettin' along Brian. This just opened my eyes. Truth is, I cheated on her first. That's what we were fightin' about. If she hadn't slept with you, it'd have been somebody else. She was lookin' for revenge, plain and simple. The trust is gone...It's time for both of us to cut our losses and move on." Rodney stated.

"I'm sorry things didn't work out for you guys, Rod, I really am." Brian said sincerely.

"Listen, the guys and me were talkin'. We're gonna help with the hospital bills. It may take us a while to pay for it, but we owe that to you guys." Rodney offered.

"Well, I appreciate that Rodney, I really do." Brian said, holding out his hand to shake Rodney's.

"Hold on. I'm not finished. You know, we work six days a week for Russ. We each have a different off day. I'm off on Mondays. Silas is off Wednesdays, David has Thursdays of and Jerry takes Fridays off. We figure we'll take turns on our off days to come help you guys out on your ranch...while the boys are laid up." Rodney said.

"Wow, I don't know what to say. That would really help us out, Rod. I know Adam is worried about being shorthanded." Brian replied, disbelief written all over his face.

"It's a small town, folks here gotta take care of each other. We just want you guys to know we're sorry about everything and a little extra work beats the heck out of sittin' in jail." Rodney offered his hand to Brian to shake on it.

"Tell Adam I'll be there at sun up on Monday morning, ok?" Rodney said.

"Ok." Brian replied laughing. "You're alright Rodney." Brian said, then he turned to back to the truck.

Brian decided he needed to go home. He needed to set things right with Adam. He had a lot of stuff on his chest and realized that he needed to say his peace, but he wasn't sure that he could. He was dreading it. It had crossed his mind more than a few times to head to a bar and have a few drinks. Some liquid courage wouldn't hurt...only it would.

Brian was still feeling pretty low about the boys. He figured that Wheeler's hands coming out to help on the ranch would make Adam feel better, but he doubted that it would do much to help Daniel's and Evan's feelings. He wasn't sure which made him feel worse, Evan lashing out at him the way he had, or Daniel not lashing out.

Brian had just remembered an incident in Pony's a week or so back. He had been pretty drunk and Daniel and his band were playing. Brian and his buddies had gotten pretty loud. Daniel had taken a break and come over to admonish Brian. "Hey Bri, why don't you go easy on that stuff tonight, huh?" Daniel had asked.

"Give me a break, grandma." Brian had laughed.

"Yeah, pretty boy. Why don't you just hop back on that stage and bat your eyelashes at the ladies. You warm 'em up for us men and then we'll handle 'em from there, ok?" Brian's buddy Larry snorted.

Brian, Larry and two other friends all laughed and gave each other high fives.

Brian was enjoying the joke so when Daniel turned to walk away, Brian had called after him. "Hey Dan'l, flip your hair some more when you sing a ballad. That really stirs 'em up for the rest of us!" He yelled.

Daniel had flipped off Brian as he walked back over to the stage. Brian had left the bar later that night in a woman's company rather than riding back to the ranch with his little brother, so there had been no further exchange between them about it. Brian hadn't spent another moment before now thinking about it...so he'd never apologized to Daniel. Brian cringed, thinking of it now. The hurt look on Daniel's face was burning in his memory. How could he have been so cruel to somebody he loved so much? He wondered how much time Daniel had spent thinking about it. He also wondered how many other things like that he had said to Daniel while he was drunk. God what a jerk he'd been. The poor kid should hate him worse than Evan and Adam put together. Brian knew he had to straighten up his act, rather than take the chance of hurting any more of the people he loved. He needed to apologize to his little brother, too.

Steering the truck back towards the ranch, Brian felt tears stinging his eyes. He was thinking about Daniel...and Evan. He knew there was nothing he could do that would change their predicament now. He was also thinking about Adam. He couldn't tell Adam the whole truth about what was bugging him. Brian was way too ashamed to do that. He tried hard to think about just what he was going to say. What he was going to do to assure Adam that he intended to straighten up.

Brian figured that he would let Adam in on Rodney's assurances. He figured that may ease the tension between them about his not pressing charges. But the drinking and womanizing...he wasn't exactly sure what he would say to Adam to explain all of that. _I'm jealous of you. I'm jealous that the boys look to you as a father instead of me. I'm jealous that you confide in your wife now instead of me. I'm jealous that the whole darned town suddenly gives you and Hannah all the credit for raising our boys right._ Brian couldn't think of any way to say it that didn't sound petty...it sounded downright pathetic. It was pathetic..._I'm pathetic._ Brian thought to himself.

to be continued...


	6. Chapter 6

Chapter 6

Adam couldn't believe he was still up. It was after ten and it had been a long, long day. He knew he needed to get his sleep. In seven hours he would need to be up tending to the duties of the ranch. He should have been in bed long ago.

He couldn't lay down and rest, though, without talking with Brian. He only hoped Brian would return home tonight. It would not be out of character for him to show up at dawn, just in time to go to work.

Adam was feeling a little guilty about the things he had said to his brother before he went out that evening. He had spoken in anger. He prayed Brian was safe, where ever he was now.

Adam heard the familiar sound of the truck as it pulled up to the front gate. He waited nervously for Brian to come inside. He prayed he hadn't been drinking.

"Adam, you're up." Brian said, surprised.

"Couldn't sleep. Could we talk Brian?" Adam asked, rising from the couch to face his brother.

"Yeah, that's actually why I'm here. I want to talk to you and I need to check on Dan'l." Brian offered.

"I think he's asleep. He was earlier." Adam said.

"Look, I went and squared things with Rodney," Brian began.

"What? What do you mean? I told you not to go over there!" Adam said, trying not to raise his voice, but failing miserably.

"It's all good, Adam. We didn't fight. We talked it out." Brian explained. "In fact, he and the others are gonna help us with the hospital bill...and they're gonna take turns givin' us a hand around here while the boys are healin' up."

"Really? That's pretty big of 'em, I suppose." Adam said, studying Brian's face.

"Well see, that's what happens when you keep the sheriff out of things." Brian retorted.

"Now look here Bri -" Adam started.

"No...Look, I'm sorry. I didn't mean that. I don't wanna argue about that any more. It's working itself out anyways. I only meant that having their help will be better for us than throwin' them in jail." Brian said.

"Yeah, ok. So what _did_ you want to talk about?" Adam asked.

"Us...me, I dunno where to start, Adam. I'm just not sure what I'm good for anymore." Brian said, dropping his head to stare at the floor.

"What do you mean, what you're good for?" Adam asked, completely confused.

"Adam, I just...You and Hannah have this place under control. Since you got married, the boys have a mom and a dad now. You don't need my help with them anymore. The boys look to you guys for help now...not me." Brian explained.

"What? I don't understand, Bri. You and me, we're they're big brothers. I know they tease me with the Dad thing, but they look up to you as much as they do me...and Hannah, she's great with them, but she's not trying to take your place." Adam said, concern etched on his face now.

"I know she's not trying to...but she's managed to do it. Come on, in their eyes I'm just a screw up now." Brian said.

"Well, that's because of your actions. I've been trying to tell you they're watchin' you. It's not my fault, or Hannah's either. You've been screwing up all by yourself." Adam began.

"Tell him the truth Brian." Adam turned to look up at the staircase to where the voice that interrupted him came from. It was Daniel. He was standing at the halfway point of the stairs, holding his ribs.

"You shouldn't be on those stairs Daniel. You could fall and do more damage to yourself." Adam admonished their younger brother.

"Tell him Brian. Tell him how you _really_ feel!" Daniel said sternly, staring at Brian, not even acknowledging Adam's words.

"Stay out of it Dan'l." Brian warned, his voice was soft but stern. He didn't want to speak harshly to the brother he'd hurt so badly.

"What's he talkin' about?" Adam asked, turning his back again to Daniel and staring at Brian.

"Nothin'. He doesn't know anything about this. He's on painkillers." Brian tried to explain it away. He was too ashamed to say what he now knew Daniel was getting at.

"He doesn't feel appreciated, Adam." Daniel stated, continuing to ease down the steps.

"Shut up Dan'l." Brian warned.

"You get all the credit for raising us. Everybody's forgotten about what Brian gave up to take care of us. Everybody's giving you and Hannah all the credit for raising us and how we are turning out. It hurts Brian." Daniel explained.

"I'm telling you Dan'l...stay outta this!" Brian said, sharply this time.

"No, dammit I'm in it." Daniel replied. "Adam, the last thing I ever wanna do is cause you two to fight. It's true, though. I hear it all the time. Everybody's always commenting on how good us boys are turning out and what a fine job you and Hannah are doing raising us. It's not fair. Brian's been there too." Daniel said, then continued to talk to Brian. "Bri - I know I tease Adam by calling him Dad. I don't do it because I think more of him as a dad than I do you. I just do it 'cause it gets under his skin. You're every bit as responsible for how I've turned out. You raised us too, and we do appreciate it. Not just me...all of us. I've been trying to tell you that. It's just...You're usually three sheets to the wind when I say it."

Adam just stood there. He didn't know what to say or do. He looked at Daniel and studied him for a minute, then moved his gaze back to Brian.

"Brian, I'm not sure what to say...I...didn't realize" Adam started to say.

"Adam don't. Don't say you're sorry when it's not your fault. You ain't done anything to me." Brian said, tears now building in his eyes.

"Daniel, go back to bed and get some rest, Brian and I are gonna talk." Adam said as he turned back to face Daniel. "And kid - thanks." Adam continued.

"I love you guys." Daniel said, turning gingerly to go back up the stairs.

As Adam watched Daniel make his way back up the staircase, Brian collapsed in the chair. He felt so ashamed of himself. He never wanted Adam or Hannah to know how he felt. He knew it was stupid and self serving of him. He would have never uttered those words to anyone...at least not sober...evidently he had done some talking to Daniel when he was drunk, though.

"Brian. I never thought too hard about any of this, but, I guess it's true. You haven't been getting much acknowledgement for all that you've done. Especially since I got married. I just... I had no idea it bothered you." Adam stammered.

"It shouldn't. I don't know why it does. It's just...it's just that before Hannah, you and me were a team, ya know? I had you're back and you had mine. It was Adam and Brian against the world. We had a ranch to save and boys to raise...and we did a pretty good job...but now, you have a wife. The boys have someone to fill the role of mom and dad...and you guys are good at it...I just, I don't have a place anymore." Brian said, a tear escaping his lashes and running down his left cheek.

"You do have a place Bri! Right here beside me. I couldn't run this ranch without you. How can you not know that? You're a better rancher than me. Heck, you're better with the boys than me. I lose my temper with them all the time. If you hadn't been there all those years to calm me down, I'd probably be in jail for child abuse!" Adam insisted.

"You're not that bad Adam...and maybe you did need me back then, but not now. Now, you have Hannah to do that. That's ok too, there's nothing wrong with that." Brian explained.

"You'll find you're Hannah one day too Brian. It just...you're not that likely to find her in a bar...I mean, maybe you will, who knows...but you gotta slow down on the drinkin'. You may not recognize her when you do meet her if you're drunk. Drinkin's not gonna help you. It may make you feel better in the short term, but in the long term, these feelings are gonna keep coming back." Adam said.

"Look, Adam. This is my problem, not yours or anybody else's. I just...I just miss our talks...I miss the closeness we had...I miss us. I don't know, maybe Miss Right will come along and take your place...but right now, it just hurts. I can't seem to stop feeling like this, no matter what I do." Brian said, breaking down completely now. Something that Adam knew was completely uncharacteristic of him.

Adam thought long and hard about what to say next. He was beginning to understand things. Their relationship had changed. All the fears and frustrations that plagued Adam was still there...the difference was, now he shared those things with Hannah, not Brian. It never occured to Adam that Brian would take this to heart. He thought he was doing him a favor. Adam always felt a little guilty for putting his worries and fears onto Brian's shoulders. After all, he was his little brother too. He felt that he was supposed to protect him as he did the others. So when Hannah came along, he stopped taking all his problems to Brian. He could see now, it had been a mistake. He had in many ways, broken a long standing partnership.

"Brian, I never meant to make you feel this way. We'll always be close. We shared something very unique. Not many people on this earth have had the same experience that we've had. It's true that I have been confiding in Hannah, but not because I see her more as a parent to the boys than I see you. It's just what a man does when he finds his soulmate. I still need you every bit as much as I did before...so do the boys. I thought I was looking out for you when I stopped coming to you with all my problems. I thought I was kinda giving you a break." Adam explained, reaching out and putting his hands on Brian's shoulders.

Brian began to break down even more now. Adam pulled him into a fierce hug as he whispered in his younger brother's ear. "It's ok. Brian I love you and I couldn't have raised them without you. I'll say it a million times if you need to hear it. I'd never have gotten through it all if you weren't standing beside me. You gotta know that."

Brian pulled back from Adam's grasped, wiping his eyes and looking sheepish as he did so. "I can't help but feel stupid. I was too ashamed to tell you how I felt, because it's just...stupid."

"No, it's not...It's human." Adam explained, patting the back of Brian's neck.

"I guess it doesn't hurt to hear that I'm needed from time to time, even though it's pretty stupid of me." Brian admitted, looking at the floor.

"Human - not stupid." Adam repeated and he reached out and put his hand on Brian's chin, forcing him to look at him again. "Thank you Brian. Thank you for everything you've done for this family. Thank you for helping me raise the boys, thank you for always having my back and thank you for always being here when I need you...and I'm here when you need me, too. All you gotta do is say the word. I'd give up my own life for you, brother. I hope you know that." Adam said.

"I know. I would do the same, you know that." Brian replied.

"I do know it. Let's go check on Daniel, huh?" Adam said, reaching his arm around Brian's neck and leading him towards the stairs.

"Yeah, l wanna make sure big mouth got back in the bed ok." Brian replied, wrapping his own arm around his big brother.

"I'm pretty sure he did or else we'd hear him whining by now. He's always been the biggest baby when he's sick or hurt." Adam said laughing.

"Don't I know it. I guess I gotta give him a pass this time, though. Dammit, I hate when they've got somethin' to hang over my head like this." Brian replied.

"Oh, and you can count on Daniel to milk it for all that it's worth, too!" Adam replied, still laughing.

Adam felt sure that in that moment, Brian was ok with him again. He felt sure that the drinking would slow down now that he'd gotten everything off his chest. He intended to do everything in his power to reassure Brian every day how much he needed him...how much they _all_ needed him. Now he just hoped that Evan and Brian could make up, though, he wasn't too sure yet on how they were going to accomplish that little feat.

Brian opened the door to Crane's and Daniel's bedroom. Crane was fast asleep, but Daniel was sitting on the side of the bed. Brian could tell he was hurting, because he was holding himself very stiff. He and Adam entered the room quietly, without turning on the light, the small lamp allowing them enough light in the room to see their kid brother.

"Need some help laying back down?" Brian asked, walking over to stand next to Daniel.

"Yeah. I'm a little sore." Daniel replied, wincing a little when Brian reached out to lightly grasp his upper arm - the good arm.

"Here, put your arm around my neck and let me ease you down on the bed." Brian said. Daniel complied and he managed to lay him back on his pillow, Adam grabbing his legs and swinging them over onto the bed.

"Thanks Mom, Thanks Dad." Daniel said with an evil grin.

Adam laughed and replied, "You're welcome. But, you're gettin' a little too old for us to have to tuck you in, dontcha think?"

"That may well be...but I may need y'all to do it for a few more days, at least." Daniel replied, laughing.

"Sure thing, kid." Adam replied.

Brian had remained silent. Adam was pretty sure that his brother wanted some one on one time with Daniel. He had said as much when he first got home. Not knowing exactly what was going on between them, Adam excused himself and left to go to his own room.

"Hey kid. I can't go to sleep without saying I'm sorry to you." Brian began.

"I know Brian. You've been saying it all day." Daniel answered quickly, throwing his hand up as if to protest the words.

"No, not about the fight Dan'l...About everything I've put you through this last month. I probably don't remember all of it, but I remember enough to know that I owe you a huge apology. I was a real jerk. I shouldn't have made fun of you at Pony's. I didn't mean any of what I said." Brian said.

Daniel saw tears welling up in his big brothers' eyes, mirroring his own. He couldn't remember ever seeing Brian cry...maybe when somebody was sick or hurt...but never with an apology. At the moment Daniel couldn't remember ever hearing Brian apologize for much of anything before today...to him or anybody else for that matter.

"Hey, it's fine. We're good Brian. I'm just sorry I ratted on you to Adam...I hope you're not mad. You needed to tell him how you felt. It's...it's the reason...the reason you've been drinkin'...aint it?" Daniel stammered, hoping he wasn't about to piss off his big brother.

"Yeah, I guess it is...and you don't have to apologize. Me and Adam are good now...and it's mostly thanks to you." Brian replied, mussing Daniel's hair. "I owe ya one, partner."

"Woah, don't I know it. I've been making a list of all the things I need you to do for me this week. I'll give it to ya tomorrow, though. I'm not quite finished with it. I've still got a few things I need to add." Daniel remarked , his eyes lighting up with mischief as he flashed Brian a huge smile.

Brian had to laugh. Daniel was as quick-witted as he was and anytime he flashed that big smile, Brian couldn't help himself. He was powerless to do anything but laugh at the kid.

"Oh, ok I see how it's gonna be. Ok, I'll drop by in the morning and pick it up from you, then." Brian said scratching his head as hoisted himself up off Daniel's bed and turned to leave.

"See ya in the morning, big brother." Daniel called after Brian.

"Yeah, bright and early." Brian retorted.

"Not too early. I'm hurt and I need my rest!" Daniel warned.

"We'll see, won't we?" Brian said looking over his shoulder with a devlish grin.

to be continued...

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	7. Chapter 7

Chapter 7

Crane woke up Sunday morning and tried to dress for the day as quietly as possible. It was almost 5 am. On a normal Sunday, they wouldn't start chores this early, but it wasn't a normal Sunday. He would need to cover Daniel's share of chores today.

He looked over at his little brother sleeping soundly in the bed across the room. He was glad to see it, after him having such a rough night. Crane had awakened twice during the night, hearing Daniel stirring, trying with a fair amount of effort to haul himself out of bed to go to the bathroom.

Crane had told the boy to call out to him if he needed help during the night. Instead, teenage bravado dictated that he try to get up on his own. It didn't happen, however, as he had stiffened up considerably during the night. Crane had assisted him in getting out of bed and then waited dutifully in the hallway for him to take care of business, then helped him back to bed. Afterward, Crane walked down the hall and peeked into Ford's and Evan's room. Both boys were sleeping soundly. Crane knew that Ford was taking good care of Evan.

Crane set the alarm for 3 a.m., which was when Daniel's pain medicine was due again. He hoped the boy would sleep through and not need it, but when Crane woke up he found Daniel, essentially curled up in a near-fetal position, awake and moaning. He got up and gave his little brother a pain pill and some water, not even bothering to ask him if he needed it. Some time later, Crane could tell by Daniel's breathing that he had relaxed and gone back to sleep. Crane relaxed himself hoping to doze off himself. He wondered if Brian and Adam had talked. He supposed he would know soon enough. He said a silent prayer then began to drift off again, knowing that in little more than an hour he would be awakened by the familiar, but unwelcomed sound of their alarm clock.

And so he had...Crane rolled over and shut it off quickly, so that it wouldn't wake up his brother. Daniel was a good brother, but he was definately less than a joy to be around when he was sick or hurt. Crane desperately hoped to not disturb him.

He left the room quietly and made his way to the kitchen and was pleased to smell coffee brewing already, his thoughtful sister in law was already up and making breakfast. Adam was there too, along with Brian. Even little Guthrie had gotten up to help his big brothers this morning. Seeing his bright shining face made Crane smile. Too bad all the brother's weren't as full of energy as their 12 year old sibling.

He studied them all. He noticed Adam seemed relaxed and almost happy. Brian too, seemed to be more relaxed than he'd seen him in some time. Crane glanced at Hannah, who smiled sweetly and gave him a little nod that communicated to him that things were ok. _Thank goodness!_

"Good morning, Crane. Hannah greeted him with a cheerful tone.

"Good morning to you kind lady." Crane answered.

"I'm glad to see everybody is up and ready for the day. Let's hope I see the same enthusiasm out of you Monday morning short stuff!" Adam said, passing Guthrie's chair and mussing his hair as he made his way to the coffee.

"I can stay home if you need extra help!" Guthrie replied with way too much enthusiasm for such an early hour.

"That's ok, we'll manage just fine." Adam replied, smiling.

"Anybody wake up Ford?" Brian asked.

"I looked in on Evan and woke Ford up, but I could tell he didn't sleep well. He took charge of Evan last night. I'm gonna let him sleep til around 8. Hannah can wake him up when she takes breakfast to Evan." Adam replied.

"How's Daniel, Crane?" Hannah asked quietly, sitting down with her cup of coffee.

"He's sleeping right now. He had his medicine a couple of hours ago, so he'll probably sleep for a while." Crane answered.

"I'll check on him after I wake up Ford. I figure he and Evan will appreciate having breakfast in bed." Hannah said with a smile.

"Adam I'm gonna head on out to the barn. I'll take care of Evan's and Dan'ls chores." Brian offered.

"I was gonna do 'em." Guthrie piped up.

"I was gonna handle Daniel's chores, but you can help me with them Guth." Crane said.

"Ok. Then I can help Brian with Evan's too." Guthrie smiled.

"That'd be great, shrimp." Brian replied.

"Morning." Ford said, entering the kitchen.

"Hey sleepyhead. I was gonna let you sleep in." Adam said.

"Nah. I'm good. I may take a nap after lunch, but I can't sleep right now." Ford explained.

"How's Evan?" Brian asked. He had stopped at the door of the mudroom when Ford walked into the room.

"He's awake. I just gave him his medicine. Oh, Hannah- it's due again around noon." Ford replied.

"Thank you Dr. McFadden." Hannah replied, laughing.

"Adam, give me fifteen minutes, I'm gonna go see Evan." Brian said, already walking towards the living room.

Adam gave him a knowing look and an affirmative nod.

"Ok guys, let's hit it. Tell you what, Guthrie I'll go ahead and get you started on Evan's chores for Brian." Adam said.

* * *

Brian knocked softly on the door to Evan's and Ford's room.

"Come in." Evan replied.

"Hey, kid. You mind if I come in for a minute?" Brian asked, popping his head into the room.

Evan let out a sigh and replied, "Sure Brian, come on in."

Brian gasped a little as he took in the sight of his little brother. His face was sporting numerous bruises and his top lip was swollen and Brian noticed it was split too.

"Hey partner. Can I get you anything?" Brian asked.

"Nah. I've just been waiting for this pain stuff to kick in. I wish it made me sleepy like it does Daniel, but Crane said they gave him stronger stuff than me." Evan whined.

"Aww, they could just see that you're a tough guy. Guess they didn't figure you would need the hard stuff." Brian said with a nervous grin. He wasn't too sure how his little brother was feeling about him this morning.

"Well, they figured wrong. So what do you want, Bri?" Evan asked.

"I wanna apologize...for everything. I am so sorry about all of this, Ev...you gotta know that." Brian offered.

"Yeah, I know. It's ok...I mean, it has to be. Ain't nothin' either of us can do to change it." Evan replied.

Brian eased over and settled on the side of Evan's bed.

"I didn't sleep last night. Couldn't stop thinkin' about you...and Daniel. I don't blame you for being pissed- I'm kinda surprised you're even talkin' to me now." Brian said.

"I'm too banged up to run away from you Brian. I may as well listen to what you have to say." Evan replied, sounding a little less agitated than Brian expected.

"Well, I was thinkin' about what I could do to make this up to you...and...I had an idea." Brian explained.

"What's that?" Evan asked curiously.

"Well, this is gonna depend on what the doctor has to say, but I know the last leg of the rodeo circuit for our region is still 3 months away. I was thinkin' if you're healed up in time, we can save up the money for the entrance fee and travel expenses and I can take you to Reno and you can compete there." Brian said.

Evan's eyes grew wide as Brian spoke and Brian could see the excitement building in his little brother.

"Really? You think we could afford it?" Evan asked, excitement ringing clear in his voice.

"You let me worry about the finances. You just tell me if you think you can be ready for it and I'll make a way for it to happen." Brian said with a broad smile on his face.

"Oh Brian. That would be awesome! I'll be ready, for sure. Are you sure Adam will let us go? We're talkin' 150 miles or better, one way. He might not like it." Evan said with doubt.

"Hey, Adam's not the only adult around here. Ol' Brian can be a responsible adult when he wants to be you know!" Brian said, laughing.

"That'd be awesome! I've read all about it in my magazines. They have the most awesome arena there!" Evan said excitedly.

"So I hear." Brian said, mussing Evan's hair.

"Glad I could make ya feel better. I just wish the whole family could come watch, but at least I can be there to cheer you on." Brian replied.

"I know." Evan said. "You know, I also read that Tanya Tucker is the entertainment for that one." Evan continued, a hint of guilt in his voice.

"I heard that too. I guess you're thinking of Daniel?" Brian asked, smiling and raising a curious eyebrow.

"Yeah, he's kind of in love with her, you know." Evan said...hoping Brian would catch the hint.

"Uh huh...I know. That's why I figured we'd invite him to go too, if you don't mind." Brian said with a mischievious grin."We'll make him pay for all the gas!" Brian teased, giving Evan a wink.

"Alriiiight. Road trip! We're gonna have a blast! Brian, you're the best...the absolute best!" Evan said and let out a boisterous 'yee haw!'

"Ok, ok calm down. So...we got a date, right?" Brian asked.

"You bet! Can I tell Daniel, please?" Evan begged, sounding like a 7 year old rather than a 17 year old.

"Oh, spoil all my fun, huh?" Brian asked laughing. "Sure partner, you can tell him when later when he wakes up."

"Evan, I'm not doing this to rack up brownie points. You're a good kid and I'm proud of you for having my back yesterday. This is my way of telling you how much I appreciate it. I want all you boys to know that I will move mountains to make you happy if I have to." Brian said, his eyes tearing.

Evan suddenly grew quiet, emotions taking him over too. "I know you would Brian. I've always known that. You've always been there for us. I'd take a beating for you every day if I had to." Evan replied, reaching over to hug Brian.

Brian reciprocated, being careful not to disturb the boy's ribs. "I love you little bro" Brian said.

"I love you, Brian...more than you'll ever know!"

_God, I sure hope Adam remembers telling me I'm just as much a parent to them as he and Hannah. Oh well, if he pitches a fit, I'll just throw his words back at him! He can't win..._

Brian shook his head and had to laugh out loud at his own thoughts.

the end...


End file.
